Dark Side of Social Networking Addiction with Special Reference to Mental Health Hazards

Abstract

Social media is one of the most powerful tools available in hands of people to connect with World. Over the last two decades drastic improvement has been observed in social media, in terms of quantity, quality, and utility. In present era the increased usage of social networking among adults is a matter of concern for parents, society and researchers. Apart from various benefits, the excessive use of social networking sites made the people addicted to such an extent that it adversely affects them. Researches indicate that excessive use of social media can be related to depression and anxiety. Addressing the relationship between social networking addiction and mental health, the literature search from PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar has been done. The aim of present study is to explore the mental health hazards of social media and potential strategies for their mitigation.